Mass media, which can include television, cable, satellite, radio, internet and other forms of media, are often designed to reach large audiences with a variety of content. The type of content tends to vary depending upon the manner of distribution for the media. Many broadcasters and other media distributors often use advertising as a source of revenue to enable them to continue distribution of their respective media. For instance, television and radio programs can be distributed through radio broadcasting or cable as well as through internet streaming media services. Ads can be inserted between segments of program content. Alternatively, certain the media can comprise only ads or informational content, such as digital signage. The media distributors consider that each available slot for advertising content represents inventory or commodities that can be sold. Thus, the media distributors operate as inventory owners that sell their inventory to prospective purchasers, such as advertisers or others, which provide advertising content that can be inserted into the respective slots. The slots that provide ad opportunities are often termed avails or spots.
A variety of different traffic and billing systems have been developed. The inventory owners also utilize one or more automation system that provides for the automatic distribution of media content, including program content and advertising content, over a set of channels. Many inventory owners employ one or more different traffic and billing system to schedule, track and manage their inventory of advertising spots.